I’d have left Pujols at 1B, because his elbow is more important than this game — no matter how much they’ve put into getting a win today. I’d have put LaRue at 3B, where he’s played four games in his big league career, Glaus at SS and left Miles at 2B.

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Not only do you risk Albert’s elbow, what if he got wiped out on a double play attempt or a steal? He would not have been able to make a relay throw from the outfield.
Even could have put Miles at short and Glaus at second.

yeah, i definately thought that was a very strange one moving Pujols to second, personally id probably have played Miles at SS and LaRue at Second but which ever way he worked it, someone was gonna be out of position. BTW, i thought there was at least some intent to hit Izturis as a recation to not getting strike 3 called the ball previous. Good game to watch though – just a shame we couldnt come away with the W.

I don’t have a problem with AP at second. He’s a big boy and knows how to take care of himself, knows his limits and how to stay within them, etc. With some less self-aware sluggers of years gone by (I can think of one in particular), I would have recoiled in horror from this move, but they would never have offered to help at SS (where reportedly AP originally volunteered to step in, TLR wisely declining) or 2B.

What an interesting outfield situation we had yesterday although here is one that I thought about: Molina to catch, LaRue to left field and Schumaker to short. This guy has played it all and could have probably been called on to pitch had we run out of pitchers (I am told he was hitting the 90s in HS/college). I just kept having visions of Pujols in a double play with his competitive nature taking over and Prince Albert throwing out his elbow to save the game that doesn’t even matter that much in the grand scheme of things. Honestly I think anything would have been better than moving Pujols from first base. Just a scary move.

No matter who you put where, there is risk. I liked the move. Put your best glove man at second. He can at least field the ball and make plays. You know you won’t get a 6-4-3, but a 4-6-3 is possible. Albert feeds the SS on the dp already, so it is somewhat familiar. You’re not moving a whole set of dominoes with multiple players out of position. I am curious about one thing, though. How would the relays be affected by the changes?

I dont have a problem with Pujols playing 2B. The only time that he might have to throw as hard as he can is on a relay. You dont really throw as hard as you can on a ball hit to you at 2B to 1B very often, and he is one of if not the smartest player I have ever seen. He knows his limits and it means staying within them help out the team in the long run that is what he would do.

Someone finally realized that Thompson cannot pitch in the bigs-Yea! Now we have to tell Reyes the same thing and bring up Garcia from Springfield. What are they waiting for? If they don’t know that Reyes is never going to make it, something is wrong and they aren’t the baseball geniuses that people say they are. Either trade him for another hitter or send him to the minors. Bring Rasmus up, put Ankiel in right and trade for another outfielder that can hit both right and lefties. Play Ryan at short and say good bye to Izturis who they never should have signed in the first place. Cards lineup. Rasmus,Ankiel, Pulhols, Glaus,New outfielder, Ryan, Molina, Kennedy or new second baseman. Trade Duncan, Izturis, Reyes, and Flores, and maybe Kennedy What I propose certainly isn’t any worse than what they are doing now. the Cubs are going to bury them unless they make these changes soon. Am I wrong?? Donald Gray

I refuse to acknowledge such a post from a “Cardinals Fan” that spells Albert’s last name as “Pulhols”…in Cardinals Nation, not knowing how to spell Albert’s last name is like not knowing the pledge of allegiance…

Man, LaRussa’s enthusiasm (“He was the logical guy to call up…”) really shows his deep, ongoing commitment to encouraging and supporting promising young players… esp. ‘cuz Izturis is just knocking the cover off the ball, as expected.

Donald, before we sell the farm, can we make it to May or even June first? We weren’t even supposed to contend for the Division this year and our stellar outfield, strong starting rotation and of course Albert Pujols have made winners out of the Cardinals. There will be times that the Cards will fall, but there are 162 games. Let’s not panic quite yet.

““The only thing is, he plays ‘young.’ And at some point you need to call that to his attention. Otherwise, he’s not going to improve, and he’s not going to be the player he can be. This is a guy that played a lot for us last year, because he played well, and he deserved it”

and “But the big thing is, there isn’t anything about Brendan Ryan that I don’t like”

I still believe he has something that he doesn’t like about him. Just from what I’ve read and from his decisions that seem to counter what he says, it seems that TLR has a personal problem with Ryan, like he had a problem with Scott Rolen. It’s just a feeling, but I’ve been right before.

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